


Dick Appointment

by Wonderful_Homebody



Series: Incompatible [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Anal Sex, And yes you read the title right, Biting, Blood, Emotional Sex, Friends With Benefits, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Making Out, Morning After, Oral Sex, Out of Character, Power Play, Rough Sex, Smut, Steven Universe Needs Therapy, Steven is 18 in this, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Why Did I Write This?, fluff (sort of), forgive me Father for I have sinned, more like Enemies with Benefits though, mostly because I'm uncomfortable writing him as 16, now with a bonus chapter, the blood is brief though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:27:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25304509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wonderful_Homebody/pseuds/Wonderful_Homebody
Summary: Steven knows he has a problem, a serious one at that, but he just...doesn’t like how everyone’s treating him.And he knows he needs to deal with his outbursts and he does...Just in his own special way.
Relationships: Kevin & Steven Universe, Kevin/Steven Universe
Series: Incompatible [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1969399
Comments: 10
Kudos: 60





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Unlikely and Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22630735) by [Ink_Pots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ink_Pots/pseuds/Ink_Pots). 
  * Inspired by [Cavities](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20528012) by [HexxedCat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HexxedCat/pseuds/HexxedCat). 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: If anything sounds cheesy/cringy it's because this is my first time writing smut and I wrote this at night (so there might be some spelling mistakes)

‘Can I come over?’

Steven stares at his previously sent message.

Then, he texts another.

‘I really need this.’

His thumb hovers over the send button, but with a disproving groan he hits backspace and exits out of the messaging app.

He did not want to sound too clingy.

Steven rises from his bed and stretches causing some of his joints to pop. Lodging around all day did not do good on either his body or his mood.

Today was just one of  _ those  _ days with yesterday being the set up. After finding out about his dad’s (perfectly normal) family, Steven kind of lost it. 

Well, he did more than lost it; he crashed his dad’s van last night. 

Steven just got so...everything!

He got mad that his dad kept him from finding out about his (human) grandparents. He got irritated hearing about how wonderfully normal his dad’s childhood was and how he threw it all away for a life full of instability and chaos. He got pissed after explaining how he wanted a mundane, regular (more human) life, his dad just didn’t get it. And when Steven turned pink and crashed the van into a ditch, he expected his father to put his foot down (Steven wanted him too!), but instead he got  _ praised  _ for his behavior. When that happened, Steven settled on numbness for the rest of the night.

He didn’t even change his clothes when he got home.

Steven doing destructive things was not necessarily uncharacteristic. He had gotten himself in quite a lot of trouble as a kid with messing around with gem artifacts and other stuff. There was that time he made Peedee’s fry mascot come to life and almost destroy the town for instance. And he did do a lot of damage with Peridot’s ship after that joyride with the cool kids. Regardless, those things had naivete and harmless intentions behind them. What Steven did last night was different; he acted on unfiltered anger.

Bored and impatient, Steven picks up his phone and begins to scroll through his ChatSnap. His eyes gloss over various clips of his friends having fun, but he's not really paying attention. His mind begins to drift to memories of this morning.

The gems weren’t really happy to hear about Steven’s little “incident”. By the time Steven got out of his bed and went down stairs, they were waiting for him. Steven saw an array of emotions: Garnet was stoic as ever, with a hint of edge in her stance; Amethyst had her arms crossed and was looking at Steven with worry and a hint of curiosity; and Pearl had on her notorious worry mom look.

It ticked Steven off.

It shouldn’t make him mad, but it does and what’s even worse is that he can’t necessarily put his finger on why it does.

The gems go into their lecture: “You could have hurt Greg;” “You could hurt yourself;” “Your pink outbursts are getting out of control;” “What’s going on, Steven;” “Are you okay?” and all Steven wanted them to do was just stop.

Cue some yelling from both sides, pink walls going up, the house shaking, more “are you okay”, some advice Steven just  _ does not _ want to hear until finally it gets so much for him that he goes back into his room and locks the door.

Steven knows he has a problem, a serious one at that, but he just...doesn’t like how everyone’s treating him.

And he knows he needs to deal with his outbursts and he does...

Just in his own special way.

Steven found an outlet not too long after his little fiasco at graduation and it helps a little.

Okay, maybe it helps him more than a little.

He knows it's not a good solution, more like a temporary fix, but it’s the only thing that centers him for right now.

Lately if he feels an outburst coming on or he loses it or the gems annoy him (which is strangely happening more and more), he sets up an “appointment”. All he has to do is text said appointee and find an excuse to leave the house. 

Steven learned a long time ago that if he truly tries, he can lie very well. For the most part, people see him as sweet and innocent, adorable and kind. No one would see a reason for Steven to make up a lie especially on where he’s going. And as Steven thinks about it, it’s funny because his excuses are almost all the same; they are just recycled and no one has caught on yet.

“I’m going for a drive.” (They never asked where or when he’ll be back.)

“I’m heading out to visit Little Homeworld.” (He hasn't stepped foot in that place for a while and he can’t bring himself to.)

“I’m going to hang out with Connie for a while.” (He can’t stomach talking to her after the marriage proposal.)

None of the gems bat an eye. The usual reply is either just a “be careful”, “bye, have a good time”, or “come back soon”. 

It bothers Steven a bit, but also kind of excites him in a strange way.

Steven’s phone vibrates and a notification from his messaging app pops up.

‘Sure’

The message back is always ‘sure’. Steven doesn’t know how to feel about that exactly because he thinks that they should be on a more casual terms by now, but at the same time he can understand the distance. If they get too close, it might make this messy and that’s the last thing Steven wants.

Steven texts back that he’s on his way before grabbing his phone and getting up. Crossing his room to his closet, he puts out his pink varsity jacket which pockets house his keys and wallet. He heads downstairs and runs into Amethyst.

Great.

“Hey Ste-man! Where you heading to?” Amethyst sounds like her normal, enthusiastic self, but Steven can hear a hint of carefulness in her tone.. It’s like she’s scared of scaring him away and Steven should appreciate the gesture, but it pisses him off. He’s not made of glass.

He ignores the underlining caution in her tone and puts on his own fake happy-go-lucky voice.

“Oh, hey Amethyst! I’m feeling a little better after this morning so I’m going to head out and spend some time with Connie.”

It’s so weird how natural the lie falls out of his mouth.

“Really, this late?” Amethyst crosses her arms, cocks her eyebrow and Steven knows he made a mistake. He looks past her out the window to see that the sun is setting with the sky turning into an orange-reddish color.

Steven rakes his brain for another excuse. “Oh, um well. Connie left something here and, um, she needs it! Like now! So I’m just going to return it to her….”

Amethyst is still staring at him and Steven feels like her glance is cooking him alive. His eyes quickly wander down to his arms to check to see if his pink. His not, but if he doesn’t get out of this stand-off he might be soon.

“Steven…” Amethyst is going to start and Steven doesn’t have the time nor energy to hear her “big sister” act.

“Like, I’ll be really quick! I promise!”

“Steven, maybe you shouldn’t drive today!” she cuts him off and rubs her arm. “I’m mean, I’m worried about you. Everyone is worried about you and after what you did yesterday... Don’t you wanna just chill for a while. I mean, your acting really weird and--”

“I’m fine!” It’s a little too harsh, and he recoils from his mistake with a small smile. “I’m okay to drive! Connie just needs this one thing and it’s really important! I’ll be back soon.”

Steven doesn’t wait for Amethyst’s response. He sidesteps her and exits the house. He hears his name being called and he should turn back and maybe say something more, but honestly he doesn’t want to deal with her and anymore conversation would probably end in him turning pink again.

Steven makes it to the Dondai. He slumps in his seat, letting out a heavy sigh before starting the car. As he drives off, Steven watches from the mirror of his house getting smaller and smaller until he can’t see it anymore.

The encounter with Amethyst definitely set him back by a couple for minutes. By the time he gets to his destination, the sun has completely vanished; the sky is now black with stars beginning to emerge.

Steven turns off the car and steps out. The area here is different. Houses are everywhere and each stand so tall and proud. They all look the same too. It surprises Steven how he hasn’t gone to the wrong door yet.

He walks up to the house in front of him. When he’s at the porch, Steven raises a hand to knock on the door. He pauses.

This is completely fucked up. Incredibly wrong. He shouldn’t be here.

But, he has thought that plenty of times and plenty of times he follows through with it anyways.

Steven decides to fuck it because it’s too late now, and he’s already here, and he just needs this even if it is wrong.

He knocks and it doesn’t take long for the door to swing open and reveal Kevin.

The older man looks at him then props the door open wide enough for Steven, who immediately comes in.

* * *

There’s an awkward waltz the two kind of do. It’s normal. It always happens, but it does not mean Steven knows how to deal with it. 

Kevin finds the wallpaper beside him interesting and Steven plays with his hands. 

Should Steven hug him? Was that alright? No, because last time Kevin yelled at him for it. Perhaps he should kiss him? He never tried doing that before. Would Kevin get mad? Maybe Steven should just get the whole thing over with and start taking off clothes. That had happened once and it went fine.

Steven doesn’t have a chance to make up his mind. Kevin clears his throat signaling that he’s going to make the first move. He tells Steven to make himself comfortable. Steven does, slipping off his flip flops which earns him a disgruntled look from Kevin. (He doesn’t care how much Kevin thinks flip flops are gross; Steven refuses to wear shoes for him.)

From there everything starts to follow the usual routine. Steven follows Kevin into the living room and they sit on the couch, far away from each other, of course. Small talk ensues with the usual “how were your day”, “what did you do”, “is anything new going on with you”, etc. etc.

All of the pent up rage from today comes tumbling out of Steven. Kevin just sits and listens; he barely says anything. Steven doesn’t mind.

In fact, if Steven is being honest with himself, he actually enjoys talking to Kevin. 

He can’t put his finger on exactly why he likes it. It’s more so a combination of things than just one reason. For one, Kevin doesn’t give a shit with what Steven has to say. It should bother Steven, it would bother any regular person, but it doesn’t at all. He likes how he can just let everything out and Kevin just sits there, quietly hearing him, but not truly taking anything in. Steven likes how he can get everything out all in one go and the next day Kevin forgets about it. He doesn’t have to worry about Kevin running his mouth off to the gems, Connie, or his dad.

Kevin doesn’t judge either, at least not out right. Kevin never compares Steven to his mother nor the other diamonds. He doesn’t constantly pick on him about his recent mood swings, his change of color, or how loud he’s getting. In fact, Kevin doesn’t question much about gem stuff. Sure, he might ask a question or two and Steven will answer it, but rather than pestering for more Kevin just accepts Steven’s word and moves on. It’s so nice not having to constantly explain things all the time.

Steven also gets to act out more too. He doesn’t have to hide behind a mask. He can get as loud and messy and petty as he wants and Kevin lets him have his moment.

It’s all so liberating.

Steven is at mid-rant, ready to complain about yet another thing that pisses him off, when Kevin interrupts him telling Steven that he’ll be back. He heads to the kitchen and Steven knows that he’ll come back with alcohol (it’s always a margarita). Steven knows that this will end in both of them getting tipsy (or drunk) and having sex. It always does.

Steven is genuinely surprised when Kevin returns with a chinese takeout box.

“Your vegan, right? I have some left over noodles you might like.” Kevin sits down and hands the box to a dumbfounded Steven.

He doesn’t remember telling Kevin about his change in diet. Granted, Steven might have brought it up once or twice as a passing comment, but it’s such a minor detail.

“Thanks…” Steven says, swirling the noodles around his fork. “But, I’m vegetarian, not vegan.”

“There’s a difference?”

“Vegans don’t eat animals nor animal byproducts; Vegetarians don’t eat meat.” Steven slurps his noodles before adding, “I’m vegetarian.”

Kevin rolls his eyes. “They sound like the same thing.”

“There not,” Steven presses and takes another bite of his food.

Kevin hums. It gets pretty quiet with only Steven’s slurping being the main source of noise. There’s no tension in the air, but Steven can’t help but feel a little awkward. He’s about to say something when Kevin speaks up again.

“Why be vegetarian? I mean, why the change?”

Steven swallows hard. Kevin is oddly chatty. He doesn’t know whether it’s a good thing or not, but then again Steven is technically a guest so he can only assume that Kevin is trying in his own way to make Steven comfortable.

“I don’t know really.” 

He never really thought about it. Why did he become a vegetarian? Did he do it out of some moral code? Kind of, but not quite. Maybe he just wanted a change for a while.

“Were you scared about your healing spit bringing things back to life as you eat or something? Did you eat a hamburger one day and a miniature cow appeared in your mouth?”

Steven couldn’t help giggling at that.

“No that’s not how my powers work,” Steven explains. He messes with remaining noodles in the box. “Otherwise your dick would come to life every time I suck on it.”

That earns a chuckle from Kevin. (Why does Steven find his laugh so...nice?) Steven can see a faint blush on that other man’s cheeks.

“That makes sense,” Kevin says. He scouts a little closer to Steven. Not close enough to where they're touching, but just enough to where they can feel each other’s presence more.

Steven is curious to know why Kevin is so interested in him all of a sudden. They don’t really talk like this a lot. Maybe he’s looking into this a bit too deeply. Kevin’s probably in a good mood or something. A very good mood. Steven doesn’t dwell on it, though. He continues eating and talking to Kevin. The conversation goes elsewhere. Kevin goes back to silently listening while occasionally speaking up a few times. 

Eventually, Steven gets a few of the last bits of his noodles, finishing up his sentence in between when he feels Kevin’s hot breath on his neck. He's close, really close. Steven can smell his cologne. It's a bit spicy, but also kind of sweet (it might be cinnamon?). A chaste kiss is placed on Steven’s neck with a nibble following behind.

Usually alcohol is involved, but fuck it.

“Ah, wait~” Steven couldn’t help but moan a little. He disregards the now empty box on the coffee table and turns his attention on Kevin.

Lips are immediately upon Steven’s. He moans into the kiss and opens his mouth more allowing Kevin’s tongue entrance. Steven throws his arms around the older man, pulling him closer.

One hand grips Steven’s hips while the other one toys with the hem of his black shirt. Steven absently plays with Kevin’s hair. It’s so incredibly soft. He feels Kevin’s hand travel up his shirt resting on his nipple. Kevin starts to rub the nipple in a lazy circle, turning it hard, and Steven sighs deeply. 

Steven suddenly breaks away from the kiss causing Kevin to whine a little (which makes Steven oddly proud of himself). Steven changes his position, settling to straddle Kevin’s lap, and he bits down on Kevin’s neck and sucks. Kevin’s voice hikes up. Hands travel down, down, down, all the way to Steven’s ass and they rest there for a while until Kevin decides to squeeze. Steven groans in response, still working on giving Kevin hick after hick. There’s another squeeze and then a faint thrust. Steven can not stop himself from squealing; his cheeks heat up. The man under him isn’t concerned at all; Kevin laughs at Steven's reaction briefly then thrusts again but harder.

“Ah~Kevin,” Steven really can’t help but say his name. This is supposed to be so, so wrong. This is Kevin. He’s obnoxious, arrogant, and a totally spoiled brat. Steven is supposed to hate him. But, with each thrust, Steven becomes so amazingly warm and his cock twitches in excitement.

This is wrong, but it feels so good.

A rough hand takes a hold of Steven’s jaw and under any other circumstance, he would pull away in anger, however this action only turns Steven on more. Kevin pulls him in and Steven lets him, melting into another kiss.

They stay like this for a while, kissing and biting each other (well the biting more Steven). He doesn’t remember when, but soon Steven’s jacket comes off, hanging over on the arm of the couch. Each time Kevin rolls his hips up, it sends a spark in Steven making him hum and moan in delight. Everything is becoming so hot and Steven just wants more. His hands find themselves under Kevin’s shirt, roaming his chest.

Kevin suddenly breaks the kiss off. He looks at Steven with half-lid eyes. His lips are glossy and his hair is in a sight disarray due to Steven’s influence. As much as Steven hates to admit it, Kevin looks very attractive right now in this state.

“Hey, uh, ca-can we take this to the bedroom now?” Kevin sounds breathless. He gives Steven’s ass one final teasing squeeze.

Steven does not want to move. He rather stay here on the couch with Kevin. It would not be the first time they did it here. Then Steven recalls how much his back had hurt afterwards, so he nods and slides off Kevin’s lap. He actually misses the bit of contact they had when he does so, but it is returned, slightly, when Kevin takes his hand and leads him to the bedroom.

Stars, Steven hopes that he isn’t looking too deeply in this little arrangement. He really couldn’t go a second without touching Kevin. If he was becoming this attached then he must be really lonely--!

“You’re glowing again.”

“Wh-what?” Steven snaps out of his thoughts. He’s sitting on the bed. Next to him, Kevin touches his cheek looking at him with curiosity and worry?

“Pink. You’re glowing pink,” Kevin clarifies, now stroking Steven’s cheek.

Steven grabs Kevin’s wandering hand. Looking down on his unoccupied hand, Steven realizes that he is glowing his usual rosy pink color. How embarrassing. Steven tries the only remedy he can think of. His mind wanders to recall the warmth of freshly done laundry, the salty taste of the ocean, the smell of baking donuts, lazy Sunday nights, and rides with Lion. The glow fades instantly as it comes and Steven sighs.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to,” Steven says in almost a whisper. He squeezes Kevin’s hand which is still resting on his cheek. The older man notices and pulls it away.

Kevin gives a small smile. “It’s so’kay. You must have been thinking pretty hard.”

His hands rap around Steven’s hips, pulling him closer. Steven never noticed how brown Kevin’s eyes are. No, that’s wrong. They are more hazel than brown. 

Steven puts his hands on Kevin’s chest as if to tell him to wait. He doesn’t know what to say in response. Should he even say anything? And again, what is with Kevin being so nice? Confused, Steven looks away, focusing on the color of the bed sheets instead.

“I personally don’t mind it,” Kevin says, his thumb is rubbing back and forth on Steven’s hip. (Why does that single motion feel so good?)

“Oh.” Steven finally responds, still not meeting Kevin’s eye.

“Yeah, you do it a lot.”

There’s a pause before Kevin adds on.

“And it’s honestly kind of hot.”

Oh.

_ Oh! _

That does it for Steven. That one phrase completely gets him. Maybe it was because Kevin’s voice drops an octave causing him to sound so sweet, and sensual. Or maybe it's more what he said rather than how he said it. How he thought Steven’s glow was “hot”. It wasn’t “destructive,” “troubling,” “concerning,” “dangerous,” but hot. 

Whatever the case that does it for Steven. He pulls Kevin by the collar of his shirt and kisses him hard. Kevin moans, surprised by the change of pace, but quickly reciprocates Steven’s embrace. Steven falls back on the bed with Kevin on top of him. Like second nature, Steven hooks his legs around Kevin’s waist causing the older man to buckle his hips.

Hungry hands roam under Steven’s shirt; Steven wants to scream. It’s getting so hot and his stupid shirt is suffocating him and he just wants it off. He pulls away and raises up a little allowing Kevin to take off his shirt. Steven lands back down on the mattress with a soft thud. He tugs on the hem of Kevin’s polo, hoping that he will get the hint and remove it. Kevin complies, particularly ripping it off in the process before going back to embrace Steven. 

It’s still not enough. Steven needs more. Kissing and dry humping isn’t going to do it for him. He _needs_ __ to be fucked now.

“Kevin,” Steven mutters in between kisses, “I need you now~”

Kevin’s lips stray away from Steven’s. Kisses begin to trail from Steven’s jaw to his neck. For a second Steven is about to call out again, when Kevin bits down. Overcome with sicking pleasure and pain, Steven lets out a low short cry. Kevin chuckles in the crook of Steven’s neck before resuming in his barrage of kisses. He travels from Steven’s neck to his shoulder, chest, stomach, until finally his gem. After Kevin raises up, smiling. His hand rests on Steven’s belt buckle.

Steven whimpers in anticipation. “Kevin, please~”

If someone told him a couple of months ago that he would be begging for Kevin to fuck him, Steven would of assumed they were either sick or bumped their head on something.

Kevin gives in to Steven’s request. He takes his time unbuckling Steven’s pants. Impatience gets the best of Steven; he shoves his pants and underwear off. Released from the denim prison, Steven’s cock springs out with precum already leaking out.

“Someone’s impatient,” Kevin says huskily. He takes a hold of Steven’s cock giving it a couple of teasing strokes. 

“Kevin, fuck, please~” Steven had no idea how high pitched and whiny his voice can get.

“I never really noticed before but you’re so cute. “ Kevin strokes start to become faster the more he talks. “You sound so slutty and needy. Oh, and you're glowing. You must really like this~”

Steven’s cheeks become hot. He checks his stomach and sure enough his whole body is pink again. He opens his mouth wanting to tell Kevin to shut up, but then Kevin leans down and sucks on Steven’s cock. Unable to control himself, Steven throws back his head letting out a low moan and rolls his hips up.

“Oh, fuckkkk~Kevin~”

It’s not like Steven hasn’t gotten a blow job before but this was different. Steven needs this one. He needs to forget about everything: crashing his dad’s van, proposing to Connie, everyone leaving, everyone growing, him staying stagnant, him staying the same, being compared to his mother, being scared of being like his mother, wanting to be wanted while not wanting to fix every single thing. And with each lick and suck that Kevin does, Steven does forget. Each thing washes away until all he can focus on is the man below making him feel so good.

A hand shyly rubs Steven’s gem. Steven flinches a little which makes Kevin’s hand stop. But, Steven doesn’t want him to; he needs for Kevin to keep going.

“H-hey, you can touch it~” he lets out softly. He hopes he sounds somewhat seductive.

Kevin resumes rubbing Steven’s gem, this time it’s a bit more fast. That simple action heightens all of Steven’s senses sending a shock wave of pleasure all over him. It feels amazing! He cries out and grabs, no, _grips_ Kevin’s brown locks.

The rubbing becomes more quick, heavy, and intense. Steven can not shut up and he holds on to Kevin for dear life as he arches his back. This is almost as good as getting pounded if he’s being honest, but he doesn’t want to cum not yet, not like this, so he pulls up on Kevin’s hair. The man below him raises up, surrendering Steven’s cock with a ‘pop’.

“Yes?” Kevin breathes out. He is wearing a smug grin on his face which makes Steven even hornier. (Kevin’s smile is oddly...pretty?)

“I don’t want to cum yet. Not like this,” Steven admits huskily.

“Not like what?”

Steven’s eyebrows scrunch up a bit. “Wh-what?”

“Not like what?” Kevin asks again; he begins to stroke Steven’s cock at a painfully slow rate. “How do you want to cum?”

Steven bits his lower lip. Desperate (and flustered) he tries to move his hips upwards to get more friction going. Kevin immediately holds Steven down. 

“Answer me, Steven. How do you want to cum?”

Kevin wants Steven to beg for it. Normally, this would humiliate and anger Steven. He usually hates not being in control and he hates being treated so small and useless. And it was coming from Kevin no less; if he would have done this to Steven a year ago or so (in a different situation of course), Steven would've let him have it. But, now it turns him on. He loves it. He likes being out of control, he likes someone else taking the lead. For once, Steven wants someone else to call the shots, to tell him what to do. And he does not care if it’s Kevin either.

“Fuck, Kevin! I want to cum by you fucking me~”

That’s all Kevin needs to hear. He gets up and off comes his pants and boxer; they’re thrown across the room. His dick stands erect; if Steven looks close enough he can literally some veins popping out, throbbing.

Kevin leans over, placing a quick peck on Steven’s lips before reaching over to his night stand to get a condom and a bottle of lube. By the time he turns his attention back onto Steven, Steven is already ready with his legs up and his hands stretching open his hole.

“Such a little slut. You’re all ready for me, huh?” Kevin doesn’t wait for a reply. His lips are already upon Steven’s, though this time he focuses more on his lower lip nipping and sucking it.

Kevin pulls away and Steven watches as he slips on the condom and squirts some lube on his fingers. Kevin starts to insert a couple of fingers in Steven. Steven grunts and hisses. No matter how much he gets stretched, it always feels so weird to him. Fingers move in and out; Steven squirms a little. Kevin’s lips are upon Steven’s once again; this time the kiss is more sweet and soft. Steven calms down a little and soon Kevin removes his fingers.

“Ready?” Kevin asks him and Steven nods, parting his legs a bit more. Kevin lines up his cock to Steven’s hole then enters all the way in with a graveled groan.

A long drawn out cry tumbles out of Steven and his eyes roll back. Finally! This is exactly what he needs!

He can’t even catch his breath before Kevin starts to move, starting out fast and hard, sinking his dick deep within Steven over and over again. Overwhelmed, Steven grips onto Kevin’s back, his clawing draws some lines of blood to emerge, and above him Kevin hisses.

“Ahh~Kevin, Kevin, Kevin~” Steven can’t stop saying his name; it’s the only word he knows at this point.

“Fuck Stevennn~” the tanner man lifts up Steven’s legs higher, gripping tightly on his thighs, for a deeper angle. Kevin’s hips snap forward harder and a spark of ecstasy suddenly ignites in Steven.

“Holllly shit! Kevin!” Everything from the weeks prior disappears. All Steven can focus on now is the constant stream of pleasure Kevin is giving him. With each thrust, Kevin now hits the right spot causing Steven to just moan and yell out. A warm, intense feeling bubbles up within Steven and he swears that he’s floating.

Kevin dips down and roughly kisses Steven making him hum in delight.

“Ahh~Hmm~” Steven can’t stay quiet. He breaks away from the kiss to cry out some more. “Kevin, yes~don’t stop, please don’t stop, don’t leave me~!”

He doesn’t know why he said what he said. Of course, Kevin wasn’t going to leave him. Kevin was right above him pounding him, fucking him into the mattress even. But, Steven does not want him to stop. He does not want  _ this  _ to stop. He doesn’t want Kevin to one day figure everything out and move on from him. He needs Kevin to stay. He needs Kevin to need him. He needs Kevin to use him, to make him feel important. Tears begin to well up in the corners of Steven’s eyes.

“Ahhh, fuck, I won’t~”

Steven can’t even think what the hell kind of response that is because Kevin starts to jerk off his dick. Arousal and excitement flood Steven’s mind. The combination of hurried rhythmic thrusts and being jerked off is too much. Steven curls his toes in. All he can do is just moan and hold on to Kevin. Above him, Kevin pants; he calls out Steven’s name. He’s peeking at Steven through his eyelashes.

After a while, Kevin’s movement starts to become frantic; the rhythm is now uncoordinated and messy. Steven is going to cum, he can just feel it and he senses Kevin is not too far long either. A final wave of ecstasy builds up inside Steven and he closes his eyes, arching his back--

“Kevin~I-I~awww fuck~!”

Steven can’t even finish. With one last, hard ram from Kevin hot, pink cum shots out from Steven.

Kevin gasps then goes stiff; his dick stays inside of Steven. They stay like this for a second. Steven feels weightless still. He then notices how close Kevin’s head is to the ceiling. Wait, has the ceiling always been this low? Suddenly, the floating feeling is gone, replaced with a falling sensation. Both men yell out in surprise with Steven’s scream being muffed by burying his head into Kevin’s shoulder. The bed hits the floor with a smack and the mattress jumps.

It’s quiet. The only noise comes from Kevin’s and Steven’s heavily breathing. Steven quivers, his body is still high from climaxing (and falling). Kevin pulls out and Steven releases his hold on him so the older man can roll over and disregard the condom in the nearby trash can.

The room is quiet.

Steven looks at the ceiling. One of them will have to break the tension soon. He shivers. Without any clothes on, he realizes that the room is freezing. He rubs his arms and curls up a little partly to keep himself warm and partly because he feels a bit vulnerable being naked now.

“Uh, so you float when you cum. That’s new…”

Steven snickers. Why does that statement sound so enduring and full awe? “That’s new? Was that the only thing that surprised you?”

There is the sound of the bed creak and sheets moving. Steven can feel Kevin’s eyes on him. 

“Uh, well, that’s just one. You were crying also.”

Oh.

Steven curls in more. His eyes don't leave the ceiling. It shouldn’t bother him that he cried in front of Kevin; it wasn’t like he was going to run off and tell people. 

But...

But it does. It’s as if something had ripped Steven open, exposing all his hidden insecurities, fears, and worries. Steven didn’t want to show that part of himself to Kevin. And how pathetic of him to cry anyways during sex. If anything this would probably scare Kevin away. If Kevin went away, then he would just be another person who grew too big for Steven. He’d be another person that didn’t need Steven anymore. And how cruel is that.

He can’t even keep Kevin around.

“Hey, don’t worry about it or anything.”

Huh?

Sheets suddenly covers Steven’s naked body.

“I’m like, not going to tell and I already know how emotional you get,” Kevin says. He almost sounds like his usual arrogant self. “I mean, you were a snotty mess after Clover broke up with you that one time.”

Steven turns, facing Kevin. “It’s Connie and we were never dating!”

“Whatever! My point still stands.” Kevin then wraps an arm around Steven, pulling the younger man close to his chest. Steven is too shocked to say anything. Kevin’s chin rests on Steven’s curly hair.

“Anyways don’t worry about crying. You seemed stressed out anyways; it’s understandable,” Kevin murmurs softly, his hand rubs Steven’s back.

This is comforting and nice and oddly romantic? 

Around this point Steven would be gone by now. He should be gone. He shouldn’t be here, in Kevin’s arms, enjoying how warm and good this all is.

“You know, you can spend the night here if you want,” Kevin says, pauses, then adds. “But of course, you're going to have to leave in the morning. I can’t have kidnapping charges on me because of you wanting to lay around all day and don’t expect breakfast either!”

Steven raises up, mouth agape. What?

“Why are you doing this?” Steven says finally; he’s getting suspicious. “You’re never this nice! I mean, you’re hugging me and asking me to spend the night--”

“It was an offer. I didn’t ask.”

“But, you brought it up!” Steven replies with a huff. “It just seems like this whole time you're being super kind with everything! You're supposed to be mean. Throw me out the room or tell me to leave or something! I don’t get it!”

Kevin stares wide eyed at him and Steven thinks that maybe this actually does it for Kevin. Steven waits for the coming ”get out” or a harsh shove off the bed. Instead, he gets a laugh.

“You look so adorable when you're angry.”

Steven was not expecting that.

Unless...

“Are, are you flirting with me or something?” Steven asks in confusion.

Kevin’s eyebrows jump straight up. He makes a face crossing between appalling and amusement (which makes Steven’s heart twitch).

“No, no nooo! Steven, it’s just an observation! I-I mean,” Steven sees a hint of a blush on Kevin’s cheeks as he tries to explain. “I have a heart too, you know! I can be nice! It’s just-- You just seem so stressed and sad lately and I just thought--I don’t know! You know what, stay or go! I don’t care!”

It gets quiet again. Maybe Steven is looking too deep into things. Plus, it’s getting late. He told Amethyst that he had to drop off something, didn’t he? Drop offs usually don’t take this long. But then again, Kevin’s arm is still around him, lazily lying on Steven's waist, almost tempting him.

Steven lays back down. “If I stay, what do I tell the gems? I told them I was at Connie’s…”

Kevin rolls his eyes. “Ugh, do you have to tell them everything? Just lie again. Tell them that you're spending the night at her place or something. You're 18, you can do whatever you want now.”

Steven wants to tell Kevin that he doesn’t tell the gems, everything, everything. He actually does keep a lot of things hidden from them. Also, just because he’s 18 doesn’t mean he’s allowed to just run off and do whatever when he wants to (then again he was here so maybe he could?). But, the sheets are so warm and the mattress is so soft and the coldness of the room makes Steven nuzzle himself deeper into Kevin’s chest. He wants to just stay like this forever.

“I’ll think of something, just give me a few minutes,” Steven murmurs. He can’t stop himself from closing his eyes and soon giving in to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello. Hi, how are you? You made it to the end :)
> 
> I can't believe I actually wrote this ship (?). The whole idea came to me while I was reading random crackships/rarepairs and I saw a couple of stories about Kevin/Steven and I just thought the dynamic would be interesting to explore.
> 
> I always thought it was interesting how Steven has this need to fix everything and be needed throughout Future. Meanwhile in the movie and the main series, Steven constantly has to pay for his mother's mistakes and fix them and there's this kind of change where Steven doesn't want to fix everything and he's just tired of doing so all the time. That's my thought process anyway; I have no idea if I conveyed that perfectly in this fic. I don't know I just find the two in a relationship so interesting and complex! 
> 
> Like, Steven going to Kevin just so he can get comfort without any strings attached while also fulfilling the need to be needed. And as for Kevin, while he is a MASSIVE douche, based on the episode "Kevin's Party" we do get to see a softer side of Kevin. Despite the main reason for helping Steven talk to Connie is to get Stevonnie, Kevin does seem to help also because he's going through his own break up and knows how Steven's feeling. So, I feel like Kevin would be empathetic to Steven's problems overtime in their "arrangement". I actually liked writing some of this; I might turn it into a series or another chapter who knows.
> 
> But then again, I'm also a sucker for Friends with Benefits and Hate Sex troupes so maybe that's why I wrote this ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	2. Bonus-Morning After

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This a bonus chapter! I had a mental battle with myself over preparing work for my creative writing class or writing this chapter. Clearly, being the responsible adult that I am, I made the right choice.
> 
> Warnings: this chapter is cheesy and LONG, there is an oc mentioned, and I proof'd this multiple times, but there might still be grammar mistakes( present tense isn't my usually writing style)

The sun’s rays kiss Steven’s forehead as he wakes.

Groggily, he takes in his surroundings, noting how different his room looks. The anime posters, tapestry, and photographs are absent from his walls. His desk is next to him, instead of being on the opposite side of the room; it is overtaken with thick textbooks, papers, and a laptop. His TV along with his various gaming systems are all gone. A dresser is the only thing that remains in their place.

Confused, Steven groans softly, nuzzling deeper into his body pillow.

Wait. 

When did he get a body pillow?

Steven raises up slightly. He is not hugging a pillow, but a person.

And the so-called person happened to be Kevin.

“What?” Steven mutters. How did he end up in Kevin’s bed?

Then memories of last night come rushing back to Steven. The making out, the sex, him crying, and then the cuddling...he must of dozed off after. Using his elbow, Steven props himself up to a sitting position. Kevin shifts slightly; his arm still hangs over Steven’s waist. 

This is fine. He is fine. They are fine. Nothing is wrong. Steven shouldn’t worry about it.

Steven settles on this idea for a while until the logical side of his brain starts kicking in.

This is not fine! This is far from fine! This was never supposed to happen. Steven is supposed to be at home in his  _ own  _ room, sleeping in his  _ own  _ bed. He is not supposed to be here, cuddling up with Kevin of all people!

Steven runs a hand through his hair before yanking it.

What should he do? It’s morning now. Usually he is gone by then. Do the same rules apply when waking up in the morning? Should he go? Would it be rude just to leave while Kevin sleeps? What if Kevin woke up while he was getting ready? Then what? What should Steven say? “Hey, thanks for the sex and letting me sleep over, bye?” No, that sounds so dismissive and awkward and weird. Maybe, a “bye”. No, that sounds too lame. Does it even matter what he says really? This is Kevin! Why should Steven even care about what he thinks? He should just leave!

Before Steven can make up his mind, Kevin begins to move. A soft sigh escapes from his lips and his eyes open, roaming around a bit until they rest on Steven.

“Oh, you're still here?”

Steven freezes.

Of course, Kevin expects him not to be here. Steven is usually gone after they have sex. All that tension, and frustration; the desire to be needed; the submission of control, it’s all released after having sex for Steven. And for Kevin, he gets his quick fuck for the night. There was never an after. Having something after meant there was some type of feelings or growing emotions and one thing they both agreed on was there would be no strings attached. 

This sleepover was an after, but it’s also an outlier, a one-time occurrence, and Steven should have treated it that way. He should have resumed the status quo and left the minute he woke up.

“I can practically see the wheels turning in your head.”

“Huh?” Steven says, pulling out from his thoughts.

“You’re thinking too much.” Kevin adjusts himself into a more upright position on the bed as he talks. “You’re overthinking as usual and for a second, you turned pink. I mean, it’s okay that you're still here. I’m not going to get mad or anything.”

Steven’s eyebrows jump up. “Really?”

“Really,” Kevin says then a cocky smile appears on his face. “Plus, if anyone stays in til morning, that usually means they want more.”

Steven rolls his eyes.

For a second, he forgot how annoying and egotistic Kevin could be. 

“Oh, I bet,” Steven scoffs.

Kevin hums in response; he throws the sheets back, getting out of bed. Shocked by how exposed Kevin is, Steven immediately casts his eyes downwards on the carpet. Nearby, he can hear the rustlings of clothes and the clicking of hangers.

“So...you must be hungry, right?”

That’s an..odd question. Steven picks at a stray thread on the comforter. “Uh, I don’t really know?”

“Ugh! Well, you either aren’t or you are.”

Steven is starting to miss Kevin from last night, the one who stroked his cheek and cuddled with him until the morning, and not this asshole.

“It’s morning and people usually eat during this time so yeah, I am hungry,” Steven responds back with a sharper voice.

A short tsk comes out of Kevin. “Ok, ok, geez. What do you typically eat?”

Steven lays his back on the headboard, closing his eyes. What is with Kevin and his new interest with his diet? Did he want to go vegetarian too or something?

“I don’t know....why do you wanna know? Are you thinking about becoming vegetarian too or something?” Steven asks. Frowning with eyes still closed, he begins to pull slightly on the thread.

Steven hears Kevin chuckle; the sound of hangers stop. “Uh, no. I don’t think I could survive without meat.” There are footsteps then a brief sound of running water. “But, I just wanted to do some small talk, Universe.”

Steven’s heart involuntarily flutters when Kevin calls him by his last name. He doesn’t understand why he’s getting so nervous and worked up over it, but then again Kevin rarely ever calls him that. (Steven remembers how Kevin thought “Universe” was such a weird last name and asked if it was real; when Steven said technically “Demayo” was his legal name, Kevin couldn’t stop making mayo jokes.)

Wanting to calm himself down a bit, Steven decides to humor Kevin a little with the food conversation. “Okay, then. What do you eat for breakfast, Kevin?” 

“Hmmm, it depends. I sometimes eat out.”

Steven snickers. “Can you not cook or something?”

“Hey! I can cook!” Kevin’s voice gets incredibly high for a moment before returning to its usual tone. “I just choose not to. But that’s beside the point, you still haven’t answered my question.”

Steven smiles. “Okay, okay. Um, let’s see...Well, I usually don’t eat breakfast.” Steven winces a little; that sounds bad. He tries to recover. “I--I mean, I don’t get hungry, hungry really so I mostly drink protein shakes. Sometimes I eat cereal? I just have a lot to do and I can’t waste time sitting down to eat so most of my breakfast is to-go...uh, in drink form.”

“What!”

Steven opens his eyes, looking sheepishly at Kevin. The older man is fully dressed (thank goodness) wearing sweatpants and an Empire City T-shirt. Kevin’s eyes are wide and his mouth is ajar. He holds his toothbrush in mid air.

Crap. Steven does not need yet another person dotting over him like he’s some helpless poor soul.

Besides, Steven eats. 

He just doesn’t eat breakfast everyday.

Steven speaks quickly, hoping to repair the damage he’s caused. “It’s not a big deal! I eat throughout the day eventually!”

“This is a big deal!” Kevin exclaims, throwing up his hands. “You know what, I’m making sure you eat something this morning. Get up and get dressed!”

“I, uh, what!” Steven is not expecting this at all. He pulls the covers closer to himself. “I thought you weren’t making me breakfast!”

Kevin huffs and puts down his toothbrush. “Yeah, but that was before I found out that you starve yourself! This is my house and in my house, we eat breakfast!”

“But--”

“You’re not leaving until you eat something!”

Steven opens his mouth, ready to say something, anything to get him out of this, but Kevin’s hard stare makes Steven swallow his words. 

With how Kevin was going on, he might as well be holding Steven hostage. Steven’s not going to get out of this one so easily. The best thing for him to do would be to just give in and comply. And, it’s not like Kevin was going to cook him something extravagant or anything. Breakfast was probably going to be some eggs. Steven just needs to eat a quick meal and then he’ll be out, home free.

“Alright, fine!” Steven groans, sliding off the bed. He picks up his black shirt and is about to put it on until he notices the mess from last night is still on his stomach and he is still very naked and Kevin is  _ still  _ in the room, watching him.

Steven's cheeks grow warm. “Um, do you mind…?”

Kevin quickly averts his eyes. His ears and neck turn scarlet. “Crap, ju-just use my shower. And don’t think of using any of my stuff besides soap.”

“Ok,” is the last thing Steven says before Kevin practically runs out the room.

Alone now, Steven gathers up his clothes, and heads into the bathroom. He contemplates on locking the door before deciding not to. Kevin is a douche, but from the way he reacted earlier Steven highly doubts Kevin is going to barge in unannounced.

Taking a look in the mirror, Steven mentally scolds at his tangled curls then catches sight of a dried up line of drool. Stars, he hopes Kevin didn’t notice that.

(Why does he even care if Kevin did notice?)

Feeling a bit gross, Steven tears his eyes away from the mirror and starts the shower.

* * *

To Steven’s relief, there’s a clean towel and toothbrush waiting for him when he peeks out from the door.

“This definitely saves me from asking for one,” he says to himself.

Steven gets ready, feeling much better. His teeth are clean, his hair is less in a disarray, and anything from last night has been scrubbed away. He does one last check in the mirror, making sure everything is in order. His stomach rumbles in protest, reminding him of how hungry he actually is. Maybe eating wasn’t such a bad idea. As soon as Steven opens the door, his nose is hit with a mixed scent of eggs cooking and something burning.

Curious (and a bit hungry), Steven finds his way into the kitchen. He is not surprised to see Kevin fussing over the eggs, scraping his spatula on the iron pan.

“Dammit, I thought I used enough oil!” Steven hears Kevin say. He can’t help to find it somewhat amusing (and oddly cute) to see the older man being worked up over such a simple meal.

Steven laughs, making Kevin tense up. 

“Do you need any help?” Steven asks. Between being raised by Pearl, who followed recipes by the book, and his Dad, who taught him a few family recipes, Steven knew his way around a kitchen. He had to, of course; wherever the Gems went on long missions, Steven had to basically feed himself. 

Kevin shoots a pointed look at Steven. “I think I know how to cook eggs.”

“Are you sure because those eggs are starting to look stuck,” Steven teases with a smirk.

Steven’s remark earns him a harsh sigh and growl from Kevin. “Are you seriously going to stand there and judge my cooking?” 

Steven smiles. “Yeah.”

Kevin doesn’t respond; he just scraps the pan some more. Steven grimaces at the mess Kevin has made; the eggs (if you could call them that now) were completely charred with the edges crispy and brown. Steven sniffs; the smell of something is burning is becoming more prominent. His eyes drift to a section of the counter where a smoking waffle maker sits.

“Uh, Kevin?”

“ _ What _ ! What is it now?”

“Your waffles are burning, I think.”

“What! The fuck, seriously?” Kevin leans over to his side and throws up the handle. With the way the waffle looks, it might as well be charcoal.

“What, but, I thought it wasn’t in there for long,” Kevin mutters, hanging his head.

Steven pats Kevin sympathetically on the back. He can’t help but feel bad for the guy. From the look of the kitchen, with pots and pans all over the place, Kevin did try his best to cook considering he wasn’t even planning on it. 

It is starting to make sense why Kevin told Steven that he ate out sometimes.

Maybe he  _ didn’t  _ really know how to cook.

“Uh, Kevin. Do you actually know how to cook?” Steven asks meekly.

Kevin throws his head back, closing his eyes. “No, I don’t know how to cook! There, are you happy?”

“Oh, no I’m not going to make fun of you or anything,” Steven says, hands up. “I just wanted to know. Uh, you know the offer still stands…”

Kevin opens his eyes, narrowing them at Steven. He shoves the spatula in Steven’s hands. “Fine, whatever!”

He turns to walk away, but Steven is not letting him get away that easy. He pulls Kevin back in by the collar of his shirt. “You’re not going anywhere. Let me teach you.”

“Why?” Kevin asks, challenging him.

Steven bites back. “So you know how  _ not _ to burn food.” 

Kevin huffs out a “fine” with his arms cross. Steven hums in delight; he wins this round. Steven switches off the stove, noticing the temperature was cranked up on the highest level. It’s no wonder why the eggs came out burnt.

“The temperature was way too high. You need to oil the pan and then warm it up on a low level,” Steven explains, moving the pan to another part of the stove-top. “After a couple of seconds, then add the eggs.”

“Ugh, but won’t that take forever?” Kevin says with a slight pout (which is pretty amusing to say the least).

Steven puts his hands together. “Not really….I mean, if you rush the process then something is going to end up wrong. Cooking is all about timing and following directions.”

“I see.” Kevin nods, then attempts another escape. “Thanks for the explanation!”

Steven pulls him back by his shirt again. “Oh, you are not leaving!”

“But, whyyyy?”

“Because you're going to fix your mistakes by actually cooking. I’m teaching you, remember,” Steven says sternly. “Now, get the eggs out of the refrigerator.” He releases Kevin.

A staring contest ensures between the two men; a moment passes until Kevin snaps. "Ugh, fine! You're such a teacher." He opens the refrigerator and pulls out a carton of eggs.

Steven does a half-smile. “I did run a whole school before.”

“You must have been the strictest principal ever then.”

“I wasn’t,” Steven replies with a chuckle following behind.

Kevin leans a bit closer to Steven, smirking. “Oh, no I beat you was. You probably had on a little suit with a tie and everything, carried a briefcase, oh and you probably did the whole ‘unacceptable, I’m so disappointed’ speech to a class before.”

“What, no! I don’t even know--” Steven pauses, recalling a memory he had before he left Little Homeschool. “I, ah, did kind of do that once. But, that’s only because Amethyst encouraged her class to flush themselves down a toilet!”

“Huh, what the fuck? Why the hell would she encourage that?”

“The fuck if I should know! Probably about a lesson of being spontaneous.” Steven laughs faintly. “It was pretty weird.”

“Yeah, that is a weird way of teaching,” Kevin agrees airily.

Speaking of teaching…

Steven clears his throat. Right, he was doing something before getting this off track. “So, um eggs? How were you making them?”

“Scrambled,” Kevin answers back then rubs the back of his neck. “Actually, they were sunny side up then they turned scrambled.”

Steven chuckles. “Figures.”

“Ugh, shut up. I know I’m a bad cook.”

“You’re not bad, just…” Steven trails off, trying to avoid saying ‘bad’ (because he has to admit, Kevin is not a good cook). “You’re just inexperienced.”

Kevin snorts. “Like a virgin?”

“Surrre.” Steven can just  _ feel  _ his face turning red.“Like that I guess.” He really needs to switch the subject (and stop blushing so much). “Anyways, scrambled eggs it is! Let’s get a mixing bowl and do you have a whisk?”

“A whisk? Is that the spoon with the metal rings or…?”

Oh, Stars. Kevin definitely did not know his way around a kitchen.

“It’s not too important. We can use a fork,” Steven shrugs off Kevin’s lack of knowledge. “We don’t have to get too fancy.”

Kevin pulls out a new bowl, pan and fork. Steven instructs Kevin to crack a few eggs and mix them together. While Kevin mixes, Steven oils the pan and turns on the stovetop, this time on a lower heat setting. 

“Okay, you can add the eggs now,” Steven says, stepping back to give the older man some space.

“So, how long is this going to take?” Kevin whines after pouring the mixture.

“Not that long,” Steven answers back. He grabs the spatula and picks at the cooking eggs. “It usually takes just a couple of minutes.”

Kevin does an overly dramatic groan and Steven rolls his eyes. Kevin is such a complainer. What was the point of Kevin cooking breakfast if he wanted it an instant? He should have just ordered food for delivery or, better, let Steven go home. Then again, Steven should have just lied about not drinking protein shakes for breakfast so he wouldn’t be here cooking for such a big baby. (Which brings the question to why didn’t he lie?)

The kitchen goes quiet, with sizzling eggs being the only source of noise, until Kevin speaks up again.

“So, how was last night?”

Steven jumps a bit. Does this man have a filter?

“W--why you ask?” Steven’s face is hot. He looks over to Kevin who wears his signature cocky smirk with his eyebrows crooked up slightly.

“I was just wondering…”

“Well, that’s kinda personal, don’t you think!” Steven snaps; he grips his spatula.

Steven is met with a small chuckle from Kevin. “Wow! I was just making conversation! No need to get worked up!”

This man,  _ this man _ ! He knows damn well how Steven thought of last night. Steven levitated the bed after all! Kevin just wants Steven to admit it, so he can probably gloat about it. Like hell, Steven is going to give him the satisfaction. Steven turns his attention back on the eggs, focusing on shifting them back and forth.

“Awww, Steven c’mon don’t be mad! I was messing around!” Kevin nudges Steven's shoulder, but he shrugs Kevin’s hand off. “Hah, besides it’s kinda cute seeing you get all worked up.” Kevin's words come out airy, almost in a hush; his breath tickles the back of Steven’s neck.

He is extremely close.

(It’s terrifying, but in a good way?)

“You know what,” Steven blurts out, handing the spatula over to Kevin, “how about you cook! For practice! And the eggs are almost done anyways so there’s no way you can burn them! Hahaha!”

Kevin stares dumbfounded at the spatula then at Steven until finally slowly nodding his head and starts cooking the rest of the eggs. Steven watches trying not to linger on how Kevin’s cologne smelled earlier or how close he was or how his voice made Steven’s stomach become all knotted up with nerves. 

Steven doesn’t think about any of that. He focuses on the eggs.

Just the eggs.

Nothing else.

“Can I ask you a question?”

Steven props his elbows on the counter and leans forward. “Yeah, sure...as long as it’s  _ appropriate _ , Kevin.”

Kevin titters. “God, you did work at a school! Anyways, I like cheese on my eggs. Is it okay if I put some? I mean, I don’t really know ….do vegetarians eat cheese?”

Steven is going to have to deal with a lot of these ‘do vegetarians eat _______’ questions, wasn’t he.

“Yes, Kevin. Vegetarians eat cheese. It’s vegans who don’t eat cheese because it’s an animal byprod--”

“Yeah, Yeah, I get it,” Kevin cuts Steven off, waving a hand. “You don’t have to keep explaining.”

Kevin turns off the stove. He goes to open the refrigerator; the collar of his shirt slips down some, revealing a couple of bite marks and hicks. Steven’s eyes quickly cut to elsewhere. He really did a number on Kevin last night. He makes a mental note, reminding himself to heal Kevin before he leaves (though a sliver of him doesn’t want to for some reason).

“And done!” Kevin's exclamation brings Steven’s attention back onto him. Kevin is smiling triumphantly. Bits of melted shredded cheese top the scrambled eggs; it looks way more appealing than the mess Kevin made before.

The corners of Steven’s mouth twitch upwards. “It looks pretty good. Nice job!”

“This is like the first time I ever cooked something and it didn’t burn!” Kevin’s hazel eyes shine brighter as he talks. “Like, this was actually pretty good. I feel good? I actually cooked something right! And the smoke detector didn’t go off!”

“I think that’s called ‘feeling accomplished’, Kevin.”

“Huh, yeah. I guess I adulted today.”

“ ‘Adulted’?” Steven frowns. “If cooking is ‘adulting’ then I’ve been doing that for my whole life then.”

Kevin coughs; his ears are red. “No need to rub it in.”

Steven didn’t mean to “rub it in,” but learning to cook seems so far from “adulting” to him. In fact, doing laundry, learning to drive, all those things that (normal) young adults had to learn how to do, for Steven it came naturally. It had to. Dismantling an empire, re-building an empire, aiding gems through their trauma, now that was adulting to Steven. He didn’t have time to dwell on the minute details of growing when there were people counting on him.

But, Kevin didn’t grow up like Steven. Everything probably was done for him: cooking, cleaning, laundry. It was clear that were Steven was forced to grow up early, Kevin was forced to grow up late.

Maybe Steven did rub it in a little.

“I didn’t mean to come across that way,” Steven apologizes. “I’m sorry and I’m happy that you were able to learn something new. You should feel proud of yourself!”

“Thanks, Steven even if that did sound very cheesy.”

Steven’s grin wavers. Why couldn’t Kevin fully take a compliment? It makes it really hard for Steven to be nice when Kevin’s jerk tendencies start sprouting up.

Steven snatches the spatula from Kevin causing him to gasp. Steven doesn’t apologize. Instead, he pays attention to the waffle maker, trying to pry the burnt waffle from it. The waffle doesn’t even budge. “Kevin, did you put oil on the waffle maker before you poured in the batter?”

“Wait, you're supposed to put oil on it  _ before _ ?

He has to remember that Kevin isn’t used to cooking.

But, Kevin makes it very, very, very hard for Steven not to lose it. Steven spends the next few minutes telling Kevin--in great detail--how to cook a proper waffle and of course, Kevin interrupts each explanation with so many questions! It’s exhausting (and worrying) how Steven has to tell Kevin that yes, he has to preheat the waffle maker just like he did with the pan, and yes, he has to add oil, and yes, you can technically use butter, and no, it doesn’t matter what type although a non-flavored oil is recommended, and no, don’t eye ball the time, just use a timer for fuck sakes!

“This seems like a lot to remember! I could barely remember the recipe.” Kevin whines.

Steven pinches the bridge of his nose. “Then buy premade batter.”

A look of absolute disgust paints Kevin’s face. “But, that’s like,  _ poor  _ people’s food!”

He is really trying to be understanding, but the more Kevin complains and says stuff like that, the more Steven’s empathy runs thin. Steven lets out a long, deep breath. “How is premade batter poor people’s food?”

“Because the mixture tastes bland,” Kevin replies, looking at Steven like he should know the answer already. “Don’t you eat that stuff anyways? You would know. And it sounds so cheap just to add in water. Ugh, ewwww!”

Steven’s right eye twitches.

“First of all, premade batter doesn’t even taste bad. There is nothing wrong with premade batter. If anything, it probably tastes way better than the mess you made in the kitchen earlier. As a matter of fact, for your sake and anyone else who comes in contact with your cooking, you're better off with some premade stuff. Trust me.”

Kevin's mouth opens and closes like a goldfish until he finally manages to croak something out. “Okay, point taken, Thanks for the roast.”

Steven does not know how to take that exactly so he sets on a “you’re welcome”. (He ignores how Kevin's little giggle in response makes him want to melt.) 

The little “mess” Kevin made, leaves the waffle maker useless. Luckily, Steven notices some leftover batter next to the occupied appliance. “Kev, if you bring out another pan, I can teach you how to make pancakes. They’re pretty easy.”

“Okay, but this better be the last pan. I’m running out.”

“This is the last one I swear,” Steven assures him then adds. “Unless you burn something again, that is.”

“Oh, whatever!”

After oiling and preheating the pan, Steven demonstrates how to make the perfect pancake with each one coming out lightly toasted and perfectly round. As he cooks, nostalgic memories fill his mind; everything about this is so familiar. It’s almost like making Together Breakfast again. Being a kid was so easy back then. Being a kid meant that he wasn't the savior of the galaxy. Being a kid meant that he wasn’t a Diamond. Being a kid meant he didn’t turn pink.

Nor did he have to take responsibility for his mother’s actions.

Nor feel so empty and useless because everyone was fine, fine without his help.

Nor did he have recurring random nightmares that jolted him awake, making him wait for something,  _ anything  _ to happen.

Being a kid meant that he was Steven Universe, a goofy kid who liked playing on his ukulele and going on exciting missions with the Crystal Gems.

Steven pours in the last of the batter. “Hey, you want to give it a go? This is the last one.” He hands the spatula to Kevin. 

“Sure,” Kevin takes Steven’s place in front of the stove. “So, I flip when--?”

“There aren’t any bubbles,” Steven says, resting his elbows back on the counter. “You know, I used to make this kind of stuff all the time as a kid.

“You did?” Kevin remarks with a light chuckle. “I would've never guessed.” 

Steven chuckles a little too; he watches the small bubbles pop on the batter. “Well, I actually have been cooking like forever. The Gems were always so busy with their missions and stuff and my dad lived in a van...so I had to figure out how to make food for myself otherwise I was going to starve.”

“Actually I remember making this whole Breakfast as a kid, I called it Together Breakfast,” Steven lets out a soft laugh before continuing, “because the point of it was to eat breakfast, you know, together. I would make waffles, top it with whip cream, popcorn--don’t ask why I just did-- and a strawberry. Man, I would beg the Gems to eat it with me all the time whenever they got back from their missions. Course, they almost always said no, so it was just me eating it alone. I don’t even know why I made it; half the time it tasted way too sweet and would make me sick for most of the day and it’s not like the Gems ever ate anyways.”

He’s not going to cry; there is no reason to cry. Not again, not in front of Kevin. Steven needs to focus on the pancakes or else Kevin might burn them. “Don’t forget to flip it.”

“Oh shit, yeah.” Kevin flips over the pancake then flattens it a bit with his spatula. He glances at Steven, brows pulled together. “I’m sorry. It must have sucked growing up like that.”

Steven is quick to reassure Kevin (because it wasn’t  _ all  _ that bad.)

“Oh, no! It wasn’t like that. I mean, the breakfast did attack us once....but, uh, besides that they did eventually try it. More so, Amethyst and Garnet. Pearl doesn’t eat for personal reasons. Now, they beg me to make it for them. I guess they feel a little guilty for not spending so much time with me when I was younger.”

Kevin’s lips pinch into a thin line before speaking. “Yeah, but still...It must’ve been tough growing up so isolated, I would know.”

Huh? Steven cocks his head. “What do you mean by that?”

“Do you think the pancake is done?”

Ah, so Kevin didn’t want to talk about it. Steven plays along. “Yeah, it probably is.”

Kevin cuts off the stove; he flops the last pancake with the rest on a plate. A loud rumble comes from Steven’s stomach.

“Okay, I’m actually glad I’m eating breakfast now,” Steven says softly, rubbing his stomach.

Kevin smiles. “I’m glad too.”

Warmth overtakes Steven’s face and it gets even warmer when his hand brushes against Kevin’s while he helps set the table. Stars, what was with him this morning? This was like the ten thousandth time since he blushed in the proximity of Kevin. It was because of that stupid smile that Kevin does, wasn’t it. That smile that makes Steven’s stomach all weird and fluttery and causes his heart to beat so incredibly fast.

Or maybe he is just sick? Maybe it’s gem related? Some new power or something? (Steven hopes it’s one of those things.)

Sick or not, he needs to get it together.

Steven sits down at the table with Kevin. The sound of utensils is the only thing keeping the room from not being painfully silent. Steven takes a bite of his eggs. It’s not bad, though it needs a bit more of something on it.

He reaches over for the salt at the same time Kevin does.

“Um, sorry go ahead,” Steven says, pulling his hand back.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

Steven’s mind screams at him to shut up.

Kevin dumps salt onto his eggs. “I never actually cooked this well before. Usually someone cooks for me.”

That definitely confirms Steven’s suspicions. “I would've never guessed that.” He doesn’t bother hiding the amusement in his voice.

“Go ahead, Steven. Make fun of the stereotypical rich kid who had maids to cook for him.” Kevin takes a bite of his eggs; he instantly hums in delight. “This is really good!”

“Hmm, yeah, well I did technically make it.”

“Whatever, I helped.” Kevin slides the salt over to Steven. “My eggs usually come out so crispy. It always makes me miss Rachel’s cooking.”

“Whose Rachel?” Steven asks.

“She’s a maid I used to have. She was the best,” Kevin replies. He looks fondly off in the distance as he twirls his fork on his plate. Steven can tell Kevin is off in another place, far from this table. 

“She was my favorite. She made the best omelettes. And oh, her plaimers were to die for! I used to beg her to make them every morning! It probably drove her crazy.”

Steven grabs a pancake from the stack. “What are plaimers?”

Kevin scoffs, rolling his eyes. “Plaimers are a type of pastry. It’s made out of a special type of dough and sugar.”

“Oh! Like a doughnut!”

“Sort of? Anyway, they were my favorite and Rachel used to make hers heart shaped.” Kevin picks at his eggs as he talks. “I miss her. Whenever my parents went on business trips, she would always take care of me. She helped with my homework and stuff. At night, she would tuck me in and tell me bedtime stories. We used to make shadow puppets together. I was so pissed when my parents fired her.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

Hazel eyes shift back onto Steven. “Don’t worry about it. I was ten at the time. I cried about it for a week until I got a new bike. It’s fine.”

It isn’t fine. Steven can’t help, but to press a bit more.

“But, you guys were so close. Did your parents even tell you why she was fired?”

Kevin stops moving his fork. “Nope.”

“Did you ask?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because, I couldn’t.”

“You couldn’t? What do you mean by that?” Steven prodding despite his voice being gentle.

“I just--I don't know,” Kevin stutters. He doesn’t meet Steven’s eyes anymore. “My parents are just so...distant and particular. I--I I know you want to help, but I don’t want to talk about this really.”

Steven must have overslept too far. “Okay, then. I’m sorry about making you uncomfortable.”

“It’s fine besides,” a sly tiny smile appears on Kevin’s face, “you’re kind of a slut when it comes to helping people.”

Steven, eyes wide, drops his fork. “I am not a slut! I mean, there’s nothing wrong with--why would you even say that? Wh-what would make you  _ even  _ say that!”

Kevin shrugs, crosses his arms, and leans back. Steven really wants to wipe that shitty smirk off his face.

“You’re always helping people. Like,  _ everyone _ ! Even people that try to kill you.” Kevin begins listing off examples on his hands. “There was that one gem you healed right after she tried to drown you; that green gem you constantly tried to befriend, Peridot was her name? Oh, there was another gem that you tried to help who almost threw you in lava--”

“They were going through stuff. They deserved to be helped--!”

“Yeah, yeah. But you constantly try to get that gem Jasper or whatever to hang out with you. Didn’t she give you a black eye? You also went through hell trying to get those three alien dictators to listen to you--”

“Okay, I think I get the point!”

“Oh, and the last gem literally tried to murdered you and everyone on earth yet you ended up becoming her friend.”

“Okay, I get it, Kevin! I help people a lot! I get the point now, thanks!” Steven exclaims, pinching his forehead. Did Kevin really have to go through every single gem that he made amends with?

“It’s honestly kind of scary. Like, you help people despite it being a detriment to yourself.”

What? What the hell was that supposed to mean? Sure, Steven got a bit banged up in the process, but he wasn’t in (too much) danger or anything. And what was he supposed to do? Give up on the gems that he helped?

If he gave up on Peridot, she would probably still be under the leadership of the Diamonds, never to find the beauty of earth. The Cluster would have emerged, destroying the whole earth. If he gave up on Lapis, then she would be still trapped in the mirror, alone and miserable, never to be free. If he gave up on Bismuth, she would have stayed forever bubbled, floating around in Lion’s mane like some sort of terrible secret. If he gave up on the Diamonds, they would have continued to grief and rule over other gems; they would never understand the ability to change, to not be so rigid and distant from each other. The corrupted gems would never be unbubbled, never making the choice to live their own lives how they wanted. If Steven never helped Spinel...he doesn’t want to think about the destruction she would have caused nor how she would probably still be standing in the garden, all alone waiting for a mother who would never return.

So, Steven got hurt a bit in the process, but it was worth it if it meant teaching gems how to grow and change for the better...even if it got exhausting at times.

“Shit, I didn’t mean to get you worked up.”

Steven blinks. His eyes drift to his arms; he’s pink. 

“Sorry,” Steven mutters. He takes a breath, musing over a few good memories. The pink glow disappears instantly.

“I just get worried about you sometimes,” Kevin admits. He peeks at Steven through his lashes. “You’re always so stressed…”

Uh oh, here it comes. Another person worrying about him. Steven does not need this; he’s  _ fine _ .

“Well, uh that’s why I’m having sex with you, Kevin. To relieve stress! Ahaha!” Steven pours some syrup on his pancake; he can’t even look at Kevin. He stuffs a big piece of the cake into his mouth. 

The flavor is something he’s not expecting; it’s sweet, kinda nutty, and there’s a tiny hint of vanilla. Steven doesn’t know exactly what Kevin put in the batter, but whatever he did made the pancakes taste amazing!

“Stars! Kevin, what did you put in this!” Steven is starry eyed.

“Why? Is it bad?” Kevin says in a panic.

“No it’s,” Steven takes another bite and moans. “it’s good! It goes really well with the syrup. The whole thing is sweet, but not too sweet, sweet. What is this?”

Kevin relaxes, leaning back in his chair. He doesn’t stop grinning as he speaks. “Rachel taught me this special recipe. It was supposed to be almond waffles, but you know how that turned out...I happened to remember pieces of the recipe so I thought I might as well try cooking it.”

“Aww, Kevin!”

Kevin’s cheeks reddens. “Shut up, Steven.”

“But, you made me this whole breakfast!” Steven can’t help but to gush. “Well, you tried, at least. That’s so nice of you!” 

Kevin’s original plan was not perfect, far from it. The eggs got charred and a waffle got stuck in the waffle maker, but it was the thought that counts after all. Kevin wasn’t even supposed to be cooking for Steven. Steven was supposed to be gone by now, yet he wasn’t. Kevin wanted him to stay, to make sure he was okay and ate something for once. It was so...nice. Shame starts to cloud inside Steven; he shouldn’t have mocked Kevin’s cooking earlier.

“So, I’m really sorry if I was a little harsh on your cooking,” Steven apologizes, lowering his glance. “I know you didn’t plan on having me stay over and you’ve been really nice to me since last night so thanks, for you know, everything.”

“Dude, it’s cool. Sabina used to make fun of my cooking, so I’m used to it,” Kevin then sighs sadly; he must still be brokenhearted over their split (Steven doesn’t know why, but he feels...weird when Kevin says her name so lovingly.) Kevin clears his throat. “Also I wanted to make sure you ate something today. I don’t want you to like faint or anything and then I end up getting bad karma. I am not trying to get cursed.”

Annnnd there it was: Kevin’s ulterior motive.

“Ugh, really? Here I was thinking you're actually a nice guy and then you say stuff like that!” Steven blows out a harsh breath. “Way to ruin the moment, Kevin.”

“You are very welcome, Steven.”

Another piece of pancake gets stuffed in Steven’s mouth. He does not want to reveal his smile.

“Aww, are you getting worked up? It’s too cute seeing you get all pouty.”

Steven really wishes Kevin would stop calling him ‘cute’.

(It does something to his heart.)

“I’m no’ cute! Sop callin’ me that!” Steven swallows. “Can we please just eat? You ruined the whole mood.”

“Gosh, no need to get snarky. Alright, we can just eat. In silence. No talking. Just eating and breathing. That’s it. You got it, Steven De ‘Is Mayonnaise an Instrument’ Universe.”

Steven bites his lip; he is not going to show Kevin how funny he found that joke..

They eat in silence for a while. It’s terrible. Eating in silence was absolutely a terrible, terrible idea, but Steven is not going to say that outloud. Kevin makes an occasionally popping sound with his mouth--no doubt trying to get an outburst from Steven. It’s working slowly.

“Hey, do you wanna hear about the time I tried to flush a phone down a toilet and made it explode?”

“Uhhh, what?” Steven has no idea what compelled Kevin to say that.

“It’s pretty funny. My parents were so mad!” Kevin covers his mouth; his eyes crinkle. “It--It, oh my god, the whole shit just exploded and I have no idea--oh my god! Do you wanna hear it?”

If it was this funny….

Steven nods. “Yeah, go ahead.”

Kevin does not waste any time with his story. “Okay, so I was six and I had a thing--what six year old doesn’t--my thing happened to be pranks. So, one day, ha, oh my god, one day I decided to take one of the maid’s phone and flush it down the toilet---”

“Why would you do that?”

“I don’t know. I was fucking six, Steven! I guess I thought it would be a pretty cool prank? No wait, I remember! I think I was mad at her for making me eat broccoli so I wanted some payback. Anyways, I ended up taking her phone from her apron--I was a master at pick pocketing-- and flushing it down the toilet. I thought I was pretty smart at the time, thinking ‘haha no one’s going to find this phone and only I know where it is.” Kevin’s shoulders start to shake. The more he talks, the faster and high pitched his voice gets. Steven starts to grin.

“But, but then, oh gosh! The toilet started overflowing. So I--oh man! I got so freaked out! I started to cry, and I--haha, oh I started stuffing toilet paper in the toilet hoping it would stop and then like an idiot I fucking starting flushing the toilet some more--”

Kevin can’t stop himself and neither can Steven. The room begins to be overfilled with snorts and laughter. 

“And, oh, oh shit! Fuck, the toilet making this groaning sound and the--the fuck hahaha, the next thing I know,--ah haha, fuck!” Kevin is wheezing now; Steven can barely understand him. Why is this so fucking hilarious? It’s not that funny, if anything it’s cruel, but all Steven can imagine is a small version of Kevin, face full of tears, desperately flushing and clogging the toilet with tissues.

“There’s this pop and--hahha, fuck, water just gushes up everywhere! The whole bathroom is wet and I’m wet and my parents burst the door open and their face, oh fuck, I wished you’ve seen it. They looked sooo  _ pissed _ !” Kevin calms down a bit though his voice still wavers. “And that was the time I made the toilet explode. And also got grounded.”

“You were quite the trouble maker,” Steven says after his giggles die down. “The most I did was put fire salt on a doughnut.”

“Fire salt?”

“Yeah, I was trying to help my friend, Sadie, get back at Lars who ditched work at the time. He ended up choking on the doughnut and throwing up fire…” Steven winces. “It wasn’t pretty.”

“Ha, shit and you call me a troublemaker?”

“Hey, at least my pranks had a purpose!”

“So did mine!”

Steven raises an eyebrow and crosses his arms. “Really? What pranks did you do besides flushing a poor lady’s phone down the toilet.”

“Well, there was this one time..” and Kevin does tell Steven about that time. It was with his language tutor, Mr. Clank, an old, stiff man who never let Kevin use the bathroom during lessons and would always hit him over the head whenever Kevin pronounced something wrong. The more Kevin goes on with his rant about Mr. Clank, the more Steven can’t help but to not like the man either. 

“He used to carry this bulky laptop which had the lesson plans for the day. So one day when he went to the bathroom, because of course he could go and not me--”

“That’s so hypocritical!”

“I know.” Kevin rolls his eyes and continues. “ I took a screenshot of his desktop screen, deleted all the folders, and set the screenshot up as the wallpaper. He came back and tried to open a folder; he was doing that for 15 minutes until he got angry and cancelled the lesson. He ended up not figuring it out for a whole month! It was a nice month, though I never did learn how to say ‘May I please use the restroom?’ in Mandarin.”

Steven rests his face on his hand. “That’s pretty clever actually. What more pranks did you do?”

Kevin lists them all off: the time he hot glued his father’s car tires to the driveway so he wouldn’t leave on another business trip; the time he set all the clocks three hours back so he could have a longer bedtime; the time he replaced the vanilla from an ice cream sandwich with mayonnaise and gave it as a “gift” to his least favorite maid; and the time he plastic wrapped all the doorways for fun.

“That was funny until Rachel got stuck in one. I felt so bad I started crying,” Kevin makes a pained expression. “Geez, I thought she got hurt.”

“Aww, that is so cute!” Steven remarks. “You really do mean it when you say she was your favorite.”

“Yeah, she was kind of like a mom to me…” Kevin says. The conversation then shifts to being about Rachel. She was the first person who greeted Kevin in the morning and the last person he said goodnight to. Whenever his parents couldn’t make it his softball games--which were often--Rachel was there, always cheering him on. (Steven’s heart sinks when he hears this though; what parents don’t show up to their own kid’s game?) Rachel loved to bake and she would always let Kevin help; he laughs as he recants memories of his younger self stealing licks from the spoon when she wasn’t looking. The best memory Kevin had with Rachel was when she taught him how to ride a bike. After he was finally able to ride up and down the block without any help, Rachel took him for some ice cream. 

“She took me to this big ice cream parlor and they had so, many, flavors!” Kevin holds out his arms to demonstrate the variety. “Like every flavor you could think of. And she says I can have anything I want! So, seven year old me saw all these options and guess what the fuck I wanted? I wanted a cookie cat because I loved that stupid rap song they played in the commercials.”

Steven's eyes go wide. “Wait, wait wait! You liked those too?”

“Hell yeah. Doesn’t everybody?”

“Apparently not because they discontinued it,” Steven can’t help but whine a little when he says that. “Ten year old me was so pissed when that happened!”

“But they still kept Lion Lickers, like what the fuck?”

“Exactly! Finally someone who knows my pain!” Steven yells out. “Fuck Lion Lickers!”

The two burst out into another shared laugh.

This is pretty nice.

Steven doesn’t remember the last time he got to relax like this. (Well, he did last night, but that was different!) There was barely any talk of gem stuff which was refreshing. Steven was tired about talking about that sort of thing all the time. Nor did he want to fumble up an explanation to what he was going to do after “taking down the Diamond authority”. 

Talking and joking around with Kevin has been fun. 

Extremely fun.

And human.

If Steven’s being honest, hanging out with Kevin is giving him the same giddy feeling he gets when he’s with Connie--!

Oh.

_ Shit _ .

Steven abruptly stands up. “Fuck! I didn’t tell the Gems about staying at Connie’s!”

He doesn’t wait for Kevin’s response. He bolts to the front door and slips on his flip flops. How could he possibly forget to lie? He never forgets. He always has a cover story! He just knows the Gems are going to grill him about where he was the whole time and he is  _ not  _ looking forward to that. 

Maybe he can tell them that he was talking to Connie and they lost track of time and fell asleep? What if they called Connie afterwards? What if they already did? Then what? Maybe he can say he slept over with his dad after returning Connie’s textbook? Would that work? Steven prays to the magical forces in the universe that it does as he swings open the door.

“You’re forgetting something.”

Steven turns around. Kevin is holding up his pink jacket, the same jacket that has his car keys.

Steven closes the door.

Right. How can he be so stupid.

Steven runs over to Kevin, taking it, and putting it on. “Thanks!”

He takes his phone out of his pocket. It’s 11:30. How long did Steven sleep in? How long was he here? There are several messages and missed calls from the Gems, Connie, his dad, and even Peridot (when did she get a phone?) all asking where he is.

Dammit. Connie was his supposed alibi and his dad was his back up. Steven is going to have to think up something good during the drive home.

“Shit, I gotta go. The Gems are freaking out,” Steven pockets his phone and looks up at Kevin. “So, thanks. For breakfast and you know…” He rubs his arm; his face is hot. “The other stuff.”

“It’s no problem. I guess, I’ll see you later?” Kevin says, hands shoved in his pockets.

“Yeah, I guess so…” Steven trails off. He should make his exit now. The longer he keeps the gems wanting, the more trouble Steven is going to get in. “Bye, Kevin.”

Steven is about to leave when Kevin grabs his arm. 

“Hey, so if you ever want to do this again, we can. I mean, talk, just talking,” Kevin’s words come out in a hurry. “I know I’m the last person you would want to hang out with and you don’t want to hear this right now, but if you need to vent, just text me and come over, ok? Th-that is if you want to.”

Steven just stares at Kevin.

This is pass generosity. 

This is so  _ not  _ like Kevin. 

This is kind, and considerate, and sweet, and utterly  _ selfless _ .

(The knotted mess of nerves are back twisting and turning in Steven’s stomach again. His heart is beating so fast. Had it always been this fast?)

The more Steven stares, trying to find something to say, the more he notices how incredibly tall Kevin is compared to him, and that one freckle between his eye and brow, and how his eye color shifts into a more muted brown. He’s actually…

“But, of course, as friends. Ha, I’m not looking for a relationship right now!”

Annnnd, Kevin ruins the moment.

Again.

“Yes, Kevin as friends,” Steven reassures with an uneven smile. “Besides, you’re totally not my type.”

The way Kevin’s face scrunches up, makes it obvious that he’s offended. “What do you mean I’m not your type! I’m everyone’s type!”

“Eh. You're not mine.”

“But, but we fuck! Like, all the time!”

“Yeah and it is a good stress reliever. You know, if I didn’t know any better, I would say you seem  _ really  _ upset about not being my type, Kevin.”

Kevin turns his head away. “Sh-shut up! I am not! I just want to make sure you're not falling for me!”

“You have nothing to worry about.” Steven is ready to add another teasing joke, but the vibrations from his phone remind him of how he needs to go.

“Anyway, thanks for the offer. I’ll keep it in mind for next time.” Steven’s eyes drift to Kevin’s neck. “Oh, uh, do you want me to take care of those before I go?” Kevin frowns and it isn’t until Steven points to his own neck when the older man understands.

“Oh, uh, you can leave them this time. I know you're in a hurry.”

That’s new. 

“You’re sure? It wouldn’t take long.”

“Nah, I’m good.”

Steven plays with his fingers. “Uh, okay.” He hesitates, thinking about if he should just say goodbye and leave or say something else, doing something else…

Fuck it. Steven needs to stop overthinking.

He hugs Kevin. Kevin jumps, but then returns the embrace.

“Bye, Kevin. I’ll see you soon,” Steven murmurs into Kevin’s chest.

“Ha, bye Steven.”

Steven lets go and does one last wave before heading out the door. It isn’t until he gets in the car that he realizes how long he has been holding in his breath. His heart is pumping like crazy. Steven needs to calm down. It was just a hug, a simple hug. There is nothing to get so worked up over. Besides, Steven hugs people all the time! That’s how he shows affection. It’s nothing too serious.

Right?

Steven’s phone buzzes again. 

Fantastic. Another message probably asking where he is.

Steven starts the car.

He has way more important things to deal with now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why, hello there! How are you? You made it to the end! Congrats!
> 
> If you noticed I've decided to give Kevin the Chloe Bourgeois treatment and give him some character development. I actually don't know Kevin's canon age, I always assumed he was like, 17-19ish since he looked young enough to hang with the Cool Kids at Beach City, but he also goes out at night so he must be slightly older. But, then I thought: 'If he is a teenager, where the hell are his parents and why do they not know where their kid is?' It bothered me so much that I need an explanation so I wrote one in. 
> 
> Anywho, I hope you enjoyed the story and have a nice day/night!


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